Page 65 - The Business Idea Factory: A World-Class System for Creating Successful Business Ideas

Early adopters win

In 2004, Mar k Zucker ber g , then a student at Har var d Univer sity, develo ped and launched Facebo o k
social network. Facebook became a multibillion-dollar company and the most popular social network
in the world with over 750 million active users in 2010.

In 2006, having just graduated from St. Petersburg State University, Pavel Durov adopted the idea of
Facebook for Russian-speaking countries and launched Vkontakte social network. In 2012 Vkontakte
became the 19th most visited website in the world and the 2nd most popular social network in Europe.

Technically, a social network isn’t difficult to develop. In fact, today you can create your own social
network in a matter of minutes even if you don’t know how to code. Many thousands of people
wo r ldwide co pied the idea o f Facebo o k and launched their o wn so cial netwo r ks, ver y few o f which
became popular. You might ask, “What is the difference between Pavel Durov and thousands of other
people who launched their social networks but failed to make them successful?”

Pavel Dur o v was o ne o f the fir st user s o f Facebo o k. He no ticed the po tential o f the so cial netwo r k
idea far befo r e Facebo o k became kno wn by millio ns o f peo ple ar o und the wo r ld. In 2008, many o f
my friends in the Ukraine became users of Facebook and Vkontakte almost simultaneously. Today
they get invited to some newly created social networks almost every month but don’t join them. Why?
Firstly, because they want to be members of the biggest social networks and secondly because they
can’t actively participate in more than 2-3 social networks.

Co nstantly lo o k fo r emer g ing business ideas; o nce they tur n into billio n-do llar businesses it mig ht
be too late to develop a successful business by adopting them. You will have the biggest benefit of
copying them if you notice their potential earlier than the rest of the world. Become an early adopter
o f new ser vices and pr o ducts at the stag e when they ar e o nly o n the way to being widely used. The
earlier you see a potential in a particular idea, the more value you will get from adopting it in your
own business.

The same ideas may come to the minds of many people, however if you get the idea earlier than
o ther s, implement it ear lier and pr o mo te it ear lier, yo u will have a sig nificant advantag e. Timing is
very critical for the success of your ideas. Spot opportunities early because early adopters win.